Floor-treating machine



April 27, 1943. J. A. BACKLUND 2,317,843

FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1938 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 iii,

fiver? z w April 1943- .1. A. BACKLUND FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE 7 She ets-Sheet 2 Filed June 11, 1938 April 27, 1943. .1. A. BACKLUND 'FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE Filed June 11. 1938 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 QNN fiz/ezz/ar". 1/05)? a. fiac/fi zzzza April 3- J. A. BACKLUND 2,317,843 I FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE,

Filed June 11, 1938 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 1 3- J. A. BACKLUND 2,317,843

' FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1938 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 1 1 1943. J.. A. BACKLUND FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1938 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 April 1943. J. A. B ACKLUND FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE Filed June 11, 1938 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Apr. 27, 194-3 FLOOR-TREATING MACHINE John A. Backlund, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Lincoln-Sohlueter Floor Machinery Company, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 11, 1938, Serial No. 213,156

2 Claims.

This invention relates to floor-treating machines and has been illustrated as embodied in a machine of the type commonly called a scrubbing and mopping machine in which motordriven rotary brushes, to which water and soap powder are supplied, scrub the floor, and a squeegee with a vacuum pick-up pipe adjacent thereto mops or dries the scrubbed floor behind the rotary brushes. In some of its aspects the invention relates more broadly to machines which treat floors for other purpoes.

Scrubbing and mopping machines have been known heretofore and in fact have been developed to the point where they perform their jobs fairly well. The objects of the present in vention are therefore primarily to improve the machine from the standpoints of economy in manufacture, convenience and economy in use, length of life, and efliciency.

The manner in which these broad objects are attained as well as additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a commercial embodiment of the invention chosen for illustration.

Fig. 2 is a similar perspective View of the machine as seen from the opposite direction.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken through the machine, showing one side of the internal mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the other side of the internal mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken approximately on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken approximately on the line 63 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional. view showing features of the mounting of the brushes and the mounting of the pipes for supplying water thereto.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic drawing showing the circuits used in this invention and indicating the arrangement of the connection and control panels.

Although this invention may take various forms, only one has been chosen for the purpose of illustration. The general nature of this form of the invention is seen best in Fig. 1. The machine includes a chassis or frame ll carried by driving wheels l2 and a front caster I3. The

' floor-treating elements comprise a pair of motor-driven rotary brushes Hi and a squeegee 16. The squeegee I6 is of generally V-shape as seen best in Fig. 2 so that the forward movement of the machine will cause the Water supplied to the brushes M to be swept toward the vertex of the V where it'is drawn into a pick-up suction pipe I! as seen in Fig. 3. Water is supplied to the brushes M from a tank I8 through the pipes l9 and 20. It is also supplied for flushing purposes within the V of the squeegee It by means of a perforated pipe 22 which is also connected to the tank [8. Soap is supplied to the brushes I4 from container 23 through flexible conduits 24.

From the foregoing the general operation of the machine may be clearly understood. With soap supplied by the conduit 24 and water supplied by the pipes I9 and 20 the rotating brushes i4 thoroughly scrub the floor. The machine is moved forward continuously and the dirt and water together with a suitable quantity of flushing water from the pipe 22 are swept by the squeegee It to the vertex of the squeegee Where the dirt and water are drawn by the pick-up pipe I! into a tank 26.

The machine is driven by a, motor 28 which through suitable gearing 23 drives a clutch 3| which, when it is engaged, drives a chain 32 (Fig. 6) which drives an axle 33 on which the drive wheels l2 are mounted. The drive wheels l2 are preferably both connected to the axle 33 through over-running clutches so that when the machine is turned the outside wheel may rotate faster than the other. The clutch 3| is controlled through a train of links and levers 34, by the handle or trigger 35 which is adjacent the handle 36 and is adapted to be operated by the fingers of the hand which grasps this handle 33. The handle 36 is one of the main handles for the machine, being secured directly to the chassis H.

The detergent container 23 has a paddle wheel 38 therein which is driven by chains 39 from the axle 33 as seen clearly in Fig. 3. The paddle wheel 38 includes blades 4| which are preferably shaped to move very close tainer 23 so as to have a grinding effect on the contents thereof, thus completely breaking up any lumps therein. Furthermore, the blades 4| are so shaped as to urge the contents of the container 23 from the center toward both ends. The shape which accomplishes this is seen clearly in Fig. 5, from which it is seen that the midpoint of the blade 4| leads in the direction of rotation indicated by the arrow 42, and the blade trails in the form of a helixtoward each side from the mid-point of the blade. At each end to the wall of con-' through the various links 45, seen best in Fig. 4,

which in turn are operated by a handle 45. The

handle 45 preferably moves adjacent a quadrant 41 which is calibrated to indicate the position of the slide 44 and hence the quantity of detergent which is fed to the brushes l4.

The brushes are driven by a motor 54 which drives a pinion 52 in mesh with a gear 53 which in turn is in mesh with a gear 4. The gears 52, 53 and 54 are all enclosed within a watertight and grease packed gear casing 55, seen best in Fig. 3. Each of the gears53 and 54 drives a shaft 57 extending downwardly from the gear casing 56 and seen best in Fig. 'Lwhich also shows more clearly a bearing housing 58 in which the shaft 51 is suitably 'journaled, preferably with roller bearings. A sleeve 59 is vertically slidable on the shaft 51 butis keyed to' rotate with this shaft by a pin Bl which extends through a hole in shaft 51 and operates in a slot 62 in sleeve 59. A brush ring 63 is removably secured to the sleeve 59 in any suitablemanner. "One very desirable way of attachment is by providing the sleeve 59 with a pin 64 and providing the brush ring 63 with a slot and internal notches so'that the sleeve with its pin54 may be'inserted into the ring 63 and then turned to permit the pin 64 to be drawn into a notch in which it is kept by the tension of a spring'fSS.

It is 'desiredto control the vertical positioning of the brushes 14 in two respects. One is to raise the brushes from the floor when they are not being used, and the other'is to not merely lower them onto the floor but to control their pressure against the fioor. According to the present invention 'both'of these desirable forms of control'are provided'in a very simple manner using the same controlmechanismfor both purposes. A flanged shift ring 61 is rotatably mounted onthe sleeve 59,'anianti frictiondevice such as'a graphite ring 68 being provided between thesleeve 59 and the shift ring 61. The shift ring '61is engagedby'fingers 59 which in turn may be operated through the various links and levers H, seen partly in Fig. 3- and partly in Fig. 4, bya handle -12. The handle'liincludes a button 13 which operates a' spring-pressed detent I4 cooperating'with 'a toothed sector to lock the handle 12 and hence the lovers H and the fingers '69 in a predetermined position. When the handle 12 is moved in one direction, the fingers 69 are raised and they raise the brushes [4 from the floor. When the handle 12 is moved in the other direction, it first lowers the fingers -69 to permit the brushes l4 to drop I to the floor and subsequently lowers the fingers 69 still further to urge the brushes l4 against the floor with a pressure depending upon the exact positioning of the handle 12. This pressure is a resilient pressure transmitted through the spring 66 so that inthe event of exceptional unevenness in the fioor the brush 14 may yield thereto. This adjustable pressure onthe brushes "I4 is very desirable inasmuch as some floors such as those in lobbies need a-very thorough and stiff '75 brushing while other floors which receive less wear and dirt may be thoroughly cleaned with a light brushing. It is especially important to have the brush-pressure control mechanism readily accessible to the operator and easily operated since otherwise the important factor of brush pressure is likely to be neglected. By having the same handle 12 control both the raising of the brushes from the floor and the brush pressure when it is lowered, the greatest simplicity is attained and, furthermore, the possibility of neglect of the regulation of the brush pressure is avoided. When the operator moves from one type of floor to another, he will naturally raise the brushes I4 during transportation of the machine and when he again lowers the brushes l4 it is instinctive with him, after a little experience, to move the handle 12 to such a position as will give the proper pressure on the brushes for the particular floor to be scrubbed.

The tank I8 is preferably of fairly large capacity, that in the commercial embodiment of the machine holding fifteen gallons. The delivery pipes 19 and 20 which feed the water to the brushes l4 are connected to the tank l8 through a pipe 18 and a valve 19. The valve 19 is controlled through links and levers 81 by a-handle 82 which 'is mounted adjacent a quadrant 83 which is calibrated to indicate the position of the valve '19 so as 'to facilitate obtaining the proper flow of water through the delivery pipes 19 and 20 to the brushes 14.

It will be observed that according to this simplified form of the invention one valve T 9 controls all three delivery pipes. Since the flow of water through the pipes is not ordinarily enough to fill the pipes soas to'keepthepressure uniform on all three pipes, there is some likelihood that the water will not flow uniformly through the three pipes unless some special precautions are taken to make it do so. The' construction shown in Fig. '7 is'-' believed to be the simplest way of obtaining the uniform flow. According to this construction the'suppl'ylp'ipe T8 is screwed into one side of a fitting 8'4 and the pipes l9 and 20 are screwed into the other sides thereof. It will be observed that no pipe is connected to the bottom of the fitting-84 since such pipe would inevitably receive most of the water. In order to distribute the water evenly between the various pipes the leveling hand screws'BB are provided, being provided for each of the pipes 19 and screwing into a clar'n'p 81 thereon at one end and a bracket 88 th'ereabove. The threads of the leveling screws 'BG'a'reTri'ght and left-hand threads on its two ends so that screwing either screw 86 in one direction raises the pipe to-which it is connected while screwing it in the other direction lowers this pipe. When the screws '88 are turned in opposite directions so that one pipe I!) is raised 'as the other is lowered, this will of course cause more water'to flow through the lowered pipe. When both screws -88 are turned in the same direction so as to raise or lower both of the pipes I9uniformly, the angle of inclinati'on'of the "fitting 64 as seen in Fig. 4 will be changed so that more or le'ss'water will flow through the fitting 84 to the pipe '20. In this waythe flow of water through the three pipes can be equalized or, if preferred, agreater or less amount 'of 'water can be supplied through the pipe 20. The-pipe ZU-supplies-water between the brushes at the front thereof, 'while'the pipes le -eachzsupply-water-within-a channel 89 above the brush ring 63 so that the water runs through:

holes 90 into the brush.

The pipe 22 for supplying flushing water to the vicinity of the squeegee I6 is connected to the water tank I8 by a hose or other conduit 92 which, as seen best in Fig. 4, is connected to a valve 93. The valve 93 is a self-closing spring valve and, when desired, is opened by a wire 94 running within a choke cable 95 and connected to a trigger 96 positioned to be operated by the fingers of the hand grasping the right-hand main machine handle 91. When it is desired to flush the dirty water into the pick-up, it is simply necessary to squeeze the trigger 96 to open the valve 93 and supply as much water as may be desired to the pipe 22. This pipe is perforated with fine holes along its bottom so that the water will be supplied uniformly along its length.

Aspreviously mentioned, the water is drawn up through pipe I! into the dirty water tank 26. This tank need not be as large as the tank I8 since some of the water will be dissipated. Nevertheless, a fairly large capacity is desirable and in the commercial form of the invention the tank 26 has been a ten-gallon tank. A pick-up fan unit 99, including a motor and a centrifugal fan, is provided for creating a partial vacuum within the tank 26, there of course being suitable baffles for preventing the water delivered to the tank by pipe I! from being drawn into the fan unit 99. The fan unit 99 exhausts through a mufller IOI which may be of any suitable form such as that known as the Burgess mufiler. Such a muflier has been found very desirable from the standpoint of keeping the machine quiet inasmuch as without 4 it the exhaust is by far the noisiest part of the machine.

It is of course desirable that the tank 26 should not be permitted to get too full since this would interfere with the functioning of the machine and, if carried to the extreme, would cause water to enter the fan unit 99. For this reason a pilot light I63 is provided at a suitable point preferably on a control panel I04 for indicating when the water in the tank 26 has reached a predetermined level. This pilot light is controlled by a float I66 within tank 26, the float operating a switch I6! which may desirably be of the mercury type. When the float I06 is raised to operate the mercury switch I01 and to illuminate the pilot light I03, the operator will known that it is time to empty the tank 26. This is done by raising a valve I08 on outlet I09. The tank 18 should be filled with clean water at the same time that the tank 26 is emptied. Because of its larger size, the tank I8 will then never run dry because the tank 26 will always fill up first and cause the signal light I03 to be illuminated.

When the machine is being moved from one place to another between operations, it is desirable to lift the squeegee I6 from the floor. This is accomplished by stepping on a treadle III which is pivoted at I I2 and widely forked at its inner end. A chain H3 is connected to each branch of the fork and to the corresponding side of the squeegee I6. Movement of the squeegee I6 is guided by guide pins H6, the squeegee I6 being provided with a frame III having brackets H8 which engage the pins H6. The pins H6 may be provided with cotter pins near their ends to prevent the frame H'I from completely slipping off of the guide pins H6.

When the squeegee I6 has been raised by depressing the treadle III, it will be held in this position by a latch I2I which is urged by spring I20 into engagement with a pin I23 "on the treadle III. The latch I2I is provided with a shoulder I 24 which engages the pin I23 andholds thetreadle III down, thus holding the squeegee I6 up 01f the, floor. When it is desired to release thesqueegee to cause it to again act on the floor, it is merely necessary to kick the latch I2I or step on the treadle I26 associated therewith. This removes the shoulder I24 from pin I23 so that treadle I I is free to move upwardly and the squeegee I6 to move downwardly.

Pressure of the squeegee I6 on the floor is supplied by means of springs I28 which are mounted on guide pins H6. The pressure of the springs and hence the pressure of the squeegee I6 on the floor is controlled by thumb nuts I29 which are threaded on the upper ends of pins I6 and compress the springs I28 to the extent desired.

' The electrical circuits of the machine have been designed to facilitate their connections and to place all of the switches and indicators at convenient locations. Thus, all of the electrical control apparatus is found on the one panel I04 which is positioned in the most convenient location, namely between the handles 36 and 91. The power is obtained by a wire I3I which is held overhead by a trolley I32 and wound on or unwound from a reel I33. From the reel I33 a single connection is taken through a suitable flexible cable I34 to a connecting block I36 (Fig. 3) within a box I31 (Fig. 4). Cables having five wires therein are run from the box I 31 to the control panel I04, and two more wires are run in a cable from the motor 28 to the control panel is also possible to speed up the movement of the machine. The latter is accomplished by means of the rheostat I39 which controls the speed of the motor 28. It has been found that with this combination of features, namely the adjustable pressure of the brushes I4 and. the speeding up of movement of the machine, the machine will not only do more work in a given length of time but will wear out its brushes much more slowly. In fact, recent tests 'seem to indicate that with general work the brushes will last about twice as, long when their pressure is properly controlled as when they are run at maximum pressure at all times.

In addition to the rheostat I39 and the signal or pilot light I03, the control panel I04 includes manually operated switches I42 and I43. As seen from the circuit diagram in Fig. 8, the switch I42 turns the motor 28 on and off, and the switch I43 turns the motor 5| on and off. The motor 99 is operated by a mercury switch I46 and may be automatically controlled so that it will under no conditions be on when the squeegee I6 is raised. This automatic control is obtained by means of the mercury switch I 46 which, as seen in Fig. 3, may be mounted on the treadle lever III. When the latter is swung to the squeegee raising position, the mercury will flow away from the contacts in the switch I46 and open the circuit.

From the foregoing it is seen that a floor scrubbing and mopping machine has been providedwwhich includes numerous advantages, all of which contribute toimakeithe machine more economical to manufacture, more easilyoperated,

more .:economical in use, and more efflcient. Although someof the features :may have :been usedielsewhere before, it is believed that it has never :been apparent that, they could be used advantageously in .a machine ofsthis nature nor that theparticular advantages pointed out would result from their use.

Although I have idesczibedimyvinvention in its preferred embodiment, it is :understood that the invention :is not limited thereto, but :changes and modificationsimay be made therein, all within the scope ofv the appended claims.

I claim:

,1. A .fioor-treatingimachine including brush means, i: means for driving the brush 'means, liquid supply means including a single supply conduit, a plurality of delivery conduits connected thereto to deliver the liquid to different parts of the brush means, and means for-equaliz'ing the flow in said delivery conduits comprising screw means for adjusting the relative heights of the plurality of conduits.

2. 'In a floor treating machinehaving a movable floor-treating unit and motor operated liquid pick-up means including a motor, said means being-operable -to pick up material from the floor when said unit isacting on the floor, the means for raising said unit and simultaneously shutting off the motor operated liquid pick-up means including in combination a pivoted selectively operable member operatively connected with said'unit and adapted to be pivoted to a predetermined position to retain said unit out of contact with the floor; means to hold said member in a predetermined position, and a mercury switch on said member electrically connected with said motor and movable in response to movement of said member to shut off the motor when the unit is raised.

JOHN A. BACKLUND. 

